Chapter 10 - Decency

Nagata Ai prided herself on being observant.

It was, after all, one of the major skills required of an artist – to be able to observe and take in every aspect of the thing you replicate in your art. Whether it is a detail crafted in the mind's eye or a detail in a real-world object was immaterial – details could make or break a work of art.

When she'd joined the Art Club at her high school, she'd been enthusiastic about the level of commitment the club president, Nakatani Himeno, demonstrated for her craft. She was sure that, here, in this art club, she would find the environment to improve her artistic skills to the next level, helped along by helpful seniors and joined in her efforts by a fellow junior.

Until that day.

The day she realized she forgot something back at the club room and, without meaning to, stumbled upon the shocking sight of two of her seniors, Himeno and Kenji, screwing like animals.

Fortunately, she'd managed to cover her mouth before the involuntary shriek came out, successfully muffling it. Nonetheless, she'd immediately hid and, in a panicked sweat, stayed out of sight as they carried on with their tryst, hearing every word and moan they said.

And then she got angry.

The two lovers inside were mocking their fellow senior, Takeo. While Ai found him a bit too puppy-like and hopelessly devoted to Himeno, she'd had to admit that some part of her found that charming on its own. But, lately, his expression had been glum. Depressed. She'd figured something at home must've made him glum seeing as how he kept up such a happy pretense around everyone at school.

And yet, hearing the two inside talk about his inadequacies in such a…vile manner, she was forced to reconsider. Perhaps it was not an issue at home – perhaps it was an issue stemming from Kenji and Himeno. A pair whose behavior was reprehensible, to say the least!

And yet, Ai didn't know what to do. How did she proceed? Should she confront them? Should she tell Takeo? A teacher, maybe?

She wasn't sure. Her powers of observation did not also bless her with the ability to immediately act upon what she observed.

So she did the next best thing, reckless as it was – she recorded as much of the tryst as she was able discreetly, then fled the premises.

But, over the next few days, she still found herself unsure what to do next. Should she come forward about this? The kind of behavior Kenji and Himeno had participated in was technically against the rules at the school. They would definitely get into serious trouble!

But was that the right thing to do?

She thought of Takeo and wondered – what about asking him? He was the victim here. Right?

Argh…but what would mean having to acknowledge that she was aware of Kenji and Himeno's insults against him.

Still uncertain, she turned to the only other person she could think of – her best friend, Kaori.

"Holy shit!"

Ai nodded fervently as her friend reacted to her summary of the events. "Exactly!"

"Man, poor Muroi," Kaori lamented as she lay on Ai's bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"So?" Ai pressed as she knelt by the bed. "What should I do?"

Her friend was silent for a moment. "You have the evidence, right?" she asked.

Ai nodded.

"And no one's seen it other than you?"

Ai shook her head.

Her friend was silent again for a few seconds before rolling over to look at her. "Seems to me you've got a few options," she said before raising one finger. "One: tell the school anonymously and those two are going to face the music. But if they suspect the information comes from Muroi, they'll probably try to drag him down with them."

Ai's eyes widened. "He doesn't deserve that!"

"I know," Kaori replied sagely before raising a second finger. "Option two: tell the school without hiding your identity and they'll get into trouble but Muroi's in the clear unless they're real psychopaths."

"Except everyone knows I tattled," Ai lamented, dropping her face onto the bed.

"Yep," Kaori agreed. "So there might be some blowback on that end."

"Both options suck. What's option three?"

Kaori shrugged. "You could get any of them to confess to the situation on their own, making it their own problem."

Ai snorted.

"Exactly," her friend agreed, raising a fourth finger. "So I think the best bet is to let them implode on their own."

"You mean, let them continue as they are?" Ai asked.

"Yup."

"That's not healthy, though!" Ai protested. "Haven't you seen Muroi lately? He's all gloomy and depressed!"

Kaori fixed her with a stern stare. "As cold as this sounds, that's really more his problem, Ai."

"Is it?" Ai challenged her. "Think about it: has Art Club been the same as always recently?"

Kaori's stare wavered as she cupper her chin and thought. "…No, I suppose not."

"Right?" Ai pressed. "There's this weird feeling in the air, like…"

"Yeah, I get where you're going with this," Kaori agreed. "Whatever happened between the three of them really messed up the dynamic in the club." She sighed and flopped back onto her back. "Man, this is a headache! Why can't someone just deal with this instead? It's not like we're their parents!"

"Heh, yeah. I mean, if we were…!"

Pause.

Both friends reached the same point at the same time as their heads snapped over to look at the other and they locked mutually understanding gazes.

"Their parents!"

"A brief announcement before we begin class. Just wanted to let you all know that, according to the head office, Nakatani has apparently decided to switch schools and Himuro is sick today."

Takeo stared at the teacher in stunned surprise as the announcement dropped.

How…how was that possible? He'd just seen both of them the previous day and, overnight, Himeno was gone and Kenji was suddenly and mysteriously ill? It stretched the imagination to think that the two situations were unrelated, and the very idea festered in his head throughout the school day.

The moment the bell rang, Takeo grabbed his stuff and ran out of school, sprinting over to Kenji's house, all the while concocting any number of scenarios to explain what had happened.

An answer he got when Kenji's mother answered the door and, upon seeing him, drew him into a hug.

"Oh, you poor boy!"

Takeo stiffened at the sudden, unbidden contact, uncertain how to react. He could barely protest when she practically dragged him inside and sat him in the living room before calling for her husband. He tried to ask about Kenji but she wouldn't hear of it, instead giving him tea and snacks as they waited for her husband to apparently come down – wasn't today a work day?

And when he saw Kenji's father, the man immediately bowed low at him.

"Muroi-kun! I…I apologize for being such a worthless father to my worthless son!"

Takeo stared at him in shock and confusion. What were they talking about?

"P-Please! That's n-not necessary!" he insisted, gesturing wildly. "I just came because I heard that Kenji was sick and a classmate of ours dropped out!"

Disgust.

It was for the briefest moments, but he saw it – a glance of pure disgust both parents shot up at the ceiling, aimed clearly at where he knew Kenji's room was located.

And then they sat down and explained.

Apparently, last night, a girl from the school had shown up to inform them that Kenji and Himeno had been hooking up illicitly at the school. While that had been bad enough on its own, the girl then showed them a video of their son having sex with said girl all the while insulting Takeo's dignity as a person and as a lover.

"We can only apologize, Muroi-kun," Kenji's father said as he bowed in his seat alongside his wife. "We…we had no idea our son had grown up to be such a worthless person!"

To say that Takeo felt gutted was an understatement. He knew, of course, that Himeno and Kenji had been engaged in a carnal relationship – he'd been goaded into joining as well, after all. He'd already felt somewhat betrayed by Kenji so aggressively pursuing his crush, but when he insisted it was purely carnal, he'd rationalized it away. But to hear that there was video evidence of the two of them insulting him behind his back was…painful.

"I…thought we were friends," he said softly, tears rolling down his cheeks as he gazed at his balled-up fists on his legs.

"We're…so very sorry, Muroi-kun," Kenji's mom repeated, sounding every bit as devastated as he felt. It had been her son, after all, that had caused such immense pain.

"Rest assured, Kenji will be disciplined as harshly as he deserves," his father added. "I did not raise my son to be such a wanton excuse of a human being!"

Takeo didn't comment on that, instead focusing on the more salient issue.

"What happened to the video?"

The two adults before him exchanged a look. "The girl sent us a copy and then deleted hers. I believe she did the same for that…slut's parents."

And considering Nakatani's parents were infamously conservative…

"Do you have the girl's name, by any chance?" he asked.

Kenji's mom shook her head. "I'm afraid not – she said she didn't want to garner any attention for herself."

Takeo nodded. "Thank you for answering my questions and explaining," he said with sad gratitude. They nodded back at him and watched as he got up and bowed to them. "I will be headed home now."

Both parents nodded and bowed low again at him. "Again, Muroi-kun: we're very sorry this happened to you."

Takeo nodded in acknowledgement before departing the house, lingering only long enough to hear the parents screaming at who he could only assume, judging from their presence in the upstair window, was Kenji.

Giving it no further heed, he turned away and headed back home.

Where he found himself facing another, bizarre situation.

Seated in his living room, opposite his concerned and confused parents, were Himeno and who he could only assume were her own parents.

"Takeo! Welcome back!" his mother greeted him in surprise and relief. She gestured at the two unfamiliar adults sandwiching Himeno. "These are…"

"Nakatani Yousuke," the man introduced himself sternly with a polite bow.

"Nakatani Ayumu," the woman then added with a demure bow.

"We are this one's parents," Himeno's father added, motioning to his petrified daughter as she winced and practically shrunk in on herself at her father's withering stare and the disgust in his tone.

It was telling of how disapproving her parents were that when Himeno tried to look up at her mother for support, she found an equally angry glare aimed at her.

"They arrived a few minutes ago," Takeo's dad quickly filled in. "Said they needed to apologize?"

Takeo could guess why and nodded in thanks to the Nakatani parents. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Nakatani, but that's alright."

"Nonsense!" Himeno's father grumbled. "This one had the temerity to act like a loose woman and in such a vulgar manner!"

"Please do accept our apologies, Muroi-san," her mother added politely. "Even if you choose to forgive her, her behavior was unacceptable and beneath that of a decent person."

There was a pregnant pause as all eyes fell on Himeno, who again visibly shrunk from the shame and embarrassment she was being put through. A pause that was broken when Takeo's father finally raised a hand.

"Um…thank you for the apologies, but what is this about?"

And then the secrets started flowing. Kenji and Himeno's romps in school, her deviant behavior in public, the whole notion of sex friends and such.

Perhaps the only saving grace Takeo faced was that his name never came up, though he had no idea why.

Regardless, by the time the Nakatani parents were through narrating their daughter's every fault, she was red-faced and crying while Takeo's parents were outraged.

"I can't believe something like that happened!" his mother exclaimed. "And at school, no less!"

"What has become of our nation's youth?!" his father agreed.

Himeno's father nodded gravely. "Precisely, and that is why we agreed to come here and apologize." He then roughly grabbed his daughter by the back of the head and forced her to bow low towards Takeo and his parents. His wife emulated him with far more grace. "On behalf of our family, we sincerely apologize for our daughter's shameful behavior. We have already removed her from the school and will be sending her to a much stricter, more appropriate institution that will help fix these disgraceful flaws in her character!"

Takeo honestly could only watch on in stunned disbelief at this turn of events, unable to properly formulate the words to react. Even as the Nakatani excused themselves subsequently and left, even as his parents comforted him and expressed their empathy, even as he turned in for bed that night…he still couldn't really process what had happened.

But one major question rang at the forefront of his mind.

Why had the girl come forward to Himeno and Kenji's parents?

"Muroi-senpai! I'm finished!"

Takeo smiled as he walked over to his junior's easel and observed her work. Compared to where she was a month ago, there had been a marked improvement, especially regarding her choice of color palettes and her sense of perspective.

"Excellent work," he praised, causing her to shoot him a radiant smile and prompting playful boos from other, nearby juniors who had wanted to get his praise first.

It wasn't easy being Art Club President, especially when 40% of the club had quit a year ago under mysterious circumstances – one dropping out of school entirely (Kenji) and the other transferring to god knows where (Himeno). By default, then, he'd inherited Himeno's position and, determined to make a change, he'd done all he could to foster a nurturing and safe space for his juniors, aided by his underclassmen, Nagata Ai and Wakada Kaori.

He was thankful to the two best friends – whenever he seemed overwhelmed by the sheer amount of juniors they had, the two would step in and help and Takeo found that his life was easier when he just depended on his trustworthy underclassmen instead of bottling up everything and putting too much pressure on himself.

He wondered if that was why Himeno had given in to her lust a year ago. Was it the constant pressure of trying to be perfect that drove her to being so wild about sex? Had that been it? If so, Takeo wanted none of that.

"Takeo!"

He smiled brightly as a familiar girl entered the club room and waved at him.

"Minami!"

He ignored the faux-gagging from Ai and Kaori as his girlfriend came in and gave him a peck on the cheek, prompting playful cat calls and teasing. He mock-glared at his juniors before waving them off.

"Alright, alright! Enough of that! We have a festival coming up, so put your backs into it if you want your work displayed!"

As that lit another fire under their seats, Takeo turned back to Minami, who grinned at him.

"Look at you, all large and in charge!" she teased.

"Someone has to be," Takeo replied with a wink. "You're early today. What's up?"

She shrugged. "Just felt like seeing you," she said unapologetically glancing at an empty seat in the back. "Do you mind?"

Takeo shook his head. "You're always welcome here. Just ignore the brats."

"Big words coming from someone who relies on his underclassmen to keep order," Kaori observed as she walked by with Ai carrying supplies. Takeo and Minami chuckled in response.

"That's fair," he conceded.

Minami and he turned to look at their juniors working as hard as they could on their own personal projects, and in that moment he felt her entangle his fingers with hers.

"Wanna come over after this?" she asked him softly – too softly for anyone but him to hear.

Takeo stared at her in surprise – this was the first time since their nascent relationship had begun that she'd made the offer. And, looking at his underclassmen – the sharp-eyed Ai and her best friend Kaori, who seemed to be aware of the nature of what he'd been asked and just sighed helplessly at him – Takeo felt something unfamiliar.

Comfort.

When he'd first lusted after Himeno and been goaded into her and Kenji's messed up games, he hadn't felt comfortable at all. Everything had been a competition. Everything had been about dominance. About superiority.

But now, here, with Minami in hand, he felt none of that. Minami wasn't the object of competition between him and anyone else. She was his girlfriend and she wanted him.

He smiled down at her.

"Sure."